Wednesday, 23 January 2013

THE VILLAGE IDIOT PUB ~ Toronto ON

OCTOBER 2012

October is my favourite month of the year - with Hallowe'en being a big reason. And although it wasn't Hallowe'en yet, it was time for the Toronto Zombie Walk 2012. My buddy Ricky came in from Coburg for our second year at the event where basically thousands of people dress up as zombies, walk around down, and have fun. We had a few hours to kill and we needed some lunch, so we headed down the street to the Village Idiot Pub.

I've been to the Village Idiot a few times, but had never done a wing review. It's location is right across from the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario), just down from OCAD University, and not far from my own building.

Inside, this place has, well you can see for yourself. The crowd tends to be older folks and the art museum crowd. Our waiter was, well he was a character; sometimes we couldn't tell if he was joking or not. We went with joking.

The Village Idiot has a ton (or tonne) of beers from around the world. They have a 'British' pub type menu, but they sometime venture off the traditional path.

Rick went with a burger. But not just any burger: the piri piri burger. A standard patty, but a thick layer of their homemade piri piri sauce coated the top of the burger. It had a good kick. Rick said the fries were ok. Burger, ok too.

I went with wings, but I also added onion rings.

I was happy with these classic cooked onion rings. Crispy, the onion mostly snapped when bit into.

Also with my wings came dip. Now while most places give you blue cheese dip, or ranch, or even dill. At the village idiot I got tartar sauce. I don't think I have ever gotten tartar sauce with my wings. It was different (and made a good dip for the onion rings) but not bad. Somehow I think I got the wrong dip, but who knows.

The wings come by the pound, with Village Idiot wings being about 7 wings in said pound.

They don't list their sauces, so I had to go on my memory (my bad) so there might be some I am missing, but it wasn't a long list.

These were a decent sized wing. Mostly large, and fairly meaty. The texture was unique. I think the wings are deep fried (giving them a starting crispy skin) but are then tossed in sauce and either baked or grilled. This technique is fine, but in execution these wings were dried out and tough, and the sauce looses something in the process.

I went different on the sauce front. When Ricky ordered Piri Piri, I thought that sounded good, so I asked our waiter if I could get that on my wings. He said yes, but was reluctant because of the heat. Well, they did have heat, that's for sure. It was a dry heat that built and built. Flavour wise it was good, but I think I would go with something more traditional next time.

FINALS SCORE:
I think the Village Idiot is a quaint little pub that's great for a drink. But if your looking for good grub, it's just ok. My wings were ok: over cooked/dried out, with some good heat and a decent size. I mean, you wouldn't be an idiot to order them ... but I'm not crazy about them either. 5/10

The Village Idiot Pub126 McCaul Street, Toronto ONvillageidiotpub.ca
PS: here is my zombie costume: I'm a baby eater. I like me my baby back ribs. Get it? Maybe next year I will have a dead chicken . . . Zombie Lord of the Wings . . .